Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney

In Part 2 of a two-part episode, Kara and multiple Emmy-nominated Executive Producer and novelist Neil Laird continue their conversation about their experiences making television documentaries about the ancient world, how things get done behind the scenes, whether or not romanticizing the past is a bad thing, and what the future may hold for documentary programs. About Neil Laird Neil Laird is a m...

In Part 1 of a two-part episode, Kara and multiple Emmy-nominated Executive Producer and novelist Neil Laird talk about their experiences making television documentaries about the ancient world, how things get done behind the scenes, and what the future may hold for documentary programs. Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen Out of Egypt Digging for the Truth About Neil Laird Neil Laird is a multiple Emmy...

This week Kara and Amber discuss color (also known as polychromy) in ancient Mediterranean art and how it is studied and understood today. What role did color play in ancient art? How does polychromy affect the way modern audiences view ancient art? What are the origins of the aesthetic preference for plain white marble sculpture in Western art? The Color of Life exhibition (Getty Villa) Kelsey Mu...

In this episode Kara and Amber talk about the veneration of ancestor kings in the late 20th-21st Dynasties. During this period the coffins of ancestor kings were manipulated, buried, and reburied in caches like that of Theban Tomb 320 (also known as Deir el Bahri 320). Who was reburying and caching these royal ancestors together and why? Using the coffin of Thutmose III as a case study, they discu...

CW// self harm and suicide In this episode Kara and Amber discuss the death of Cleopatra VII and whether or not we should trust the ancient Roman accounts regarding the circumstances of her death. Did she really commit suicide, as Roman historians tell us? Or were the accounts of her death by suicide part of a cunning Roman propaganda campaign? Read more about the death of Cleopatra and the ancien...

EPISODE 81 | This episode is a recording of a live zoom Q&A with our listeners. Thank you to everyone who attended and submitted questions! Show notes * Byblos * Baal and Seth * Prof. Dani Candelora – Her research focuses on interactions between Egypt and West Asia. * Prof. Marian Feldman , Diplomacy by Design * Amarna Letter 23 – A Goddess Travels to Egypt * 1 3 - 1 7 Thus Sauska of Nineveh (godd...

EPISODE 80 | In this episode, Jordan and Kara interview Malayna Evans, author of Neferura , about the inspiration behind the story, her writing process, and how her knowledge of Egyptology factored into the choices she made as she was writing the book. About the author Malayna Evans was raised in Utah and spent her childhood climbing mountains and reading Sci-Fi. She moved to Chicago in her early...

EPISODE 79 | In this episode Kara and Jordan answer this month’s listener questions. They discuss which ancient Egyptians they would like to see a tv show about, colonialism in the ancient world, extreme climate events in ancient Egypt, and more. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

EPISODE 78 | In this episode Kara and Jordan talk with archaeobotanist and Assistant Professor of Archaeology Claire Malleson (American University in Beirut) about agriculture in ancient Egypt. What can archaeologists learn about the way ancient Egyptians lived from botanical remains? What are the traditional narratives about agriculture in ancient Egypt and how is our understanding of it changing...

EPISODE 77 | Professor Maggie Geoga joins Kara and Jordan to discuss ancient Egyptian wisdom literature (also known as instruction texts), specifically “The Teaching of Amenemhat,” a Middle Egyptian poem from ca. 1550 to 500 B.C.E. in which the murdered King Amenemhat I advises his son from beyond the grave. They discuss the challenges of studying this ancient text, who the intended audience for t...

EPISODE 76 | In this episode Kara and Jordan are joined by Drs. Danielle Candelora and Nadia Ben-Marzouk, who discuss their experience co-editing Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches , what inspired the book, and how they wanted it to differ from other studies of ancient Egyptian society. Get the book here: Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Explo...

EPISODE 75 | CW// war, violence, explicit language In this month’s Q&A episode Kara and Jordan answer questions about Kara’s upcoming book Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches , their favorite fictional books related to ancient Egypt and Egyptology, female identity and rebirth in ancient Egyptian religion, animal mummies, and more. Show notes: * The Witch...

EPISODE 74 | In this episode we are crossing the podcast streams of the past and the present, by bringing you a vintage episode of Eric’s Guide to Ancient Egypt in which Eric Wells discusses the ancient Egyptian tale of the shipwrecked sailor. Eric, who earned his PhD in Egyptology from UCLA, produced his podcast from 2015-2016 and has kindly granted us access to his archives. We hope you enjoy it...

EPISODE 73 | Is Kara’s book The Good Kings “colonialist”? Should a non-Egyptian write a critical history of ancient Egyptian pharaohs? Kara and Amber discuss the possible reasoning behind this perspective, and Kara talks about how her book came together and why she set out to write a book calling into question the typical positivist historical narratives surrounding ancient Egypt’s “good kings.” J...

EPISODE 72 | In this episode Kara and Jordan answer this month’s listener questions. Listener Notes: Time & Calendars: * MET- Telling Time in Ancient Egypt * Nile Scribes- Celebrating the Seasons * SAOC 26. The Calendars of Ancient Egypt. Richard A. Parker * Tomb aligned with Winter Solstice Wills & Funerals * NJ van Blerk, The basic tenets of intestate (customary) succession law in Ancient Egypt...

EPISODE 71 | With the growing number of labor disputes and strikes around the world, Kara and Jordan delve into how labor was organized and issues were settled in ancient Egypt. This is part two of a two-part episode. Listen to Part I here. Also read Jordan’s companion post to this episode, Fashion and Hidden Labor in the Ancient World . Sources: * Papyrus Stories- The First Recorded Strike in His...

EPISODE 70 | With the growing number of labor disputes and strikes around the world, Kara and Jordan delve into how labor was organized and issues settled in ancient Egypt. Part one of two. Sources: * Papyrus Stories- The First Recorded Strike in History * Turin Strike Papyrus * Edgerton, William F. “The Strikes in Ramses III’s Twenty-Ninth Year.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies , vol. 10, no. 3,...

EPISODE 69 | Here’s an uncomfortable fact: Having a woman’s body allows one to be much more easily controlled and commodified in patriarchal systems. We are watching this play out in real time in a post-Roe America, but what role did the female body play in the ancient world, and more specifically: How did ancient Egyptians negotiate female power in ancient patriarchal systems like ancient Egypt?...

EPISODE 68 | This month’s Q&A episode features questions on ancient festivals, food, human sacrifice, and marriage and incest in ancient Egypt. Episode Notes * Food * The Pharaoh’s Kitchen , by Madga Mehdawy * Ikram, Salima. 1995. Choice Cuts : Meat Production in Ancient Egypt . Leuven: Peeters. * Ancient Egyptian Festivals * Coppens, F. 2009. Temple Festivals of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods ....

EPISODE 67 | In this episode Kara and Jordan talk with PhD candidate Kylie Thomsen about her research contextualizing statuary reuse using new technologies like photogrammetry and RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging). About Kylie Thomsen Kylie is an Egyptology PhD candidate in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her b...

EPISODE 66 | This month’s listener questions covered a variety of topics from ancient Egyptian clothing and furniture to the portrayal of mummies in popular culture. Episode Notes Egyptian linen Pleated dresses from the Museo Egizio of Turin: study of the technical data of fabrics in Moor, A. de (Antoine) et al. (eds.) (2015) ‘ Textiles, tools and techniques of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt and...

EPISODE 65 | Historians are products of their time, place, and life experiences, and yet in many ways they approach their work with the idea that it can be (at least to some degree) separated from all of those things. In this episode Kara and Amber discuss whether or not history can—or should—be apolitical and how historical narratives inevitably reflect the zeitgeist in which they are written. Ge...

EPISODE 64 | Kara and Jordan discuss iconoclasm in the ancient and medieval worlds with Lexie Henning, the host of the Ancient Office Hours podcast. Below is information about Lexie and some visuals! We include Aya Sofia, also called Hagia Sophia , a 6th century CE multi-domed church turned mosque turned museum turned back to mosque. We also discuss the 13th century CE church of Santa Maria Sopra...

EPISODE 63 | In this month's Q&A episode, Kara and Jordan discuss questions relating to ancient papyri, display and study of human remains in museums, female power in the ancient world, and more. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

CW// Human remains The red-shroud mummy of a young man named Herakleides —don’t ask us how he died so young; we don’t know—presents some tantalizing insights into certain religious practices of the first century CE in Egypt. On view at the Getty Villa in Malibu, the mummy of Herakleides is unprovenanced, but archaeological evidence suggests it probably comes from el-Hibeh (near the Fayum). The mum...